Quick-release belt-tightener.



UNITED STATES 1 Iatented. October 13, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN N. KAILOR AND HARRY CLAY, OF COLUMBUS, INDIANA, ASSIGNORS TO REEVES& COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS, INDIANA; A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

QUICK-RELEASE BE LT-TIGHTENER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 741,042, dated October13, 1903. Application filed June 15,1903. Serial N 161,519. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOEN N. KAILOR and HARRY O. CLAY, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Bartholomew andState of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inQuick-Release Belt-Tighteners, of which the following is a.specification.

In the operation of a threshin -machine the separating -shoes are drivenby a belt which is held in driving engagement with the pulley of thecylinder by means of an idlerpulley, the arrangement being such that bywithdrawing said idler-pulley the shoes may be stopped independent ofthe cylinder.

The object of our invention is to provide a support for the idler-pulleyby means of which it may be very quickly withdrawn, so as to thusquickly slacken the driving-belt and permit the shoes to stop.

The accompanying drawings illustrate our invention.

' Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improved device; Fig. 2, a sectionon line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a perspective detail of thesupporting-bracket.

In the drawings, 10 indicates the pulley upon the end of the shaft ofthe usual threshing-cylinder; 11, the driven pulley; 12, thedriving-belt, and 13 the idler. The idler 13 is journaled in an arm 14,pivoted upon pin 15 to swing in a plane parallel with the belt 12. Arm14: is bifurcated at its outer end and the pulley 13 journaled betweenthe fingers thereof, and pivoted to said fingers upon an axis parallelwith the axis of the pulley 13 is a yoke 16. Pivoted to yoke 16 upon anaxis at right angles to its axis is an adjustingscrew 17, upon which isthreaded a handwheel nut 18. The nut 18 is adapted to be supported by abracket 19, which is provided with a slot 20, adapted to receive screw17.

In operation screw 17 may be swung into notch 20, with nut 18 restingupon bracket 19, and pulley 13 may be thrown up into engagement withbelt 12,so as to tighten the same,by properly turning nut 18; Pulley 13may also be gradually withdrawn from the belt; but the operator may, ifhe desires, grasp the lower end of screw 17 and pull said screw out ofnotch 20, so as to thus withdraw nut 18 from its position upon bracket19, whereupon pulley 13 may drop quickly away from belt 12 and the beltthus become too loose upon pulley 11 to drive the same. As a consequenceit is not necessaryto slowly screw nut 18 upward upon screw 17 in orderto withdraw idler 13 from engagement with the belt 12.

We claim as our invention- 1. A belt-tightening idler and supporttherefor, consisting of a pivoted arm, an idler journaled thereon, anadjusting-screw pivoted to said arm, a nutfcarried thereby, and anotched bracket adapted to receive the screw and support the nut,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a belt-tightening-idler construction, the combination, with theidler, of a support therefor, means for adjusting the length of saidsupport, and'a bracket arranged to receive the thrust of said support,the connection between said support and the bracket being such that thesupport may be readily disconnected from the bracket, for the. purposeset forth. V

In witness whereof we have hereuntoset our hands and seals, at Columbus,Indiana, this 10th day of June, A. D. 1903.

. JOHN N; KAILOR. [L.s.] HARRY O. CLAY. [L. s]

Witnesses: p

HELEN J. HALBERT, BEBTHA L. HARRISON.

